Travel down the highways and bye-ways of Commonwealth stamp collecting for news and views about Commonwealth stamps.

Monday, 25 July 2016

793. Singapore's 50 Years Of National Parades; A Surprise From St.
Vincent.

Singapore Post will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the country's first National Day Parade on 8 August 2016 by releasing 6 stamps and 1 miniature sheet. This is a colourful and cheerful issue and makes one feel that it would be an exciting spectacle to see. The issue was designed by Wong Wui Kong and lithographed by Secura and perforated 13. Rating:- *****.

A surprise issue from the postal administration of St. Vincent And The Grenadines which appears to date back to 2015 - 5 stamps issued in a vertically se-tenant strip printed as part of a sheet of 2 vertical strips. Importantly this looks like a real issue from St. Vincent rather than from its prolific US-based agent - IGPC (the self-proclaimed "World's most trusted stamp agents") - featuring, as it does, local subjects in useful face values. The issue commemorates the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta and I suspect very strongly that it is on sale over local post office counters so that the stamps in the set can be used on real mail. Rating:- *****.

The Post Office of Jamaica has issued 4 stamps and 1 miniature sheet to commemorate the country's participation in the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro. Inevitably the man who is currently the world's most famous athlete, Usain Bolt, is featured in the set along with Shelley-Anne Fraser-Pryce. I have no other details of the issue yet.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the Jamaica Post Office's philatelic agents, CASCO, could bring itself to getting around to releasing news of new stamps to collectors who might like to buy them? It's all a far cry from the long distant days of the splendid Crown Agents Bulletin.

Rating:- ****.

Sri Lanka Post issued a single stamp on 24 July 2016 to commemorate the late Dharmasiri Senanayake who was a politician of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and served as a government minister. The stamp was designed by Ms. Wathmi de Zoysa and printed in lithography. Rating of design:- *.

Namibia Post issued a set of 5 stamps on 7 July 2016 on the subject of Herons and egrets. The beautiful set was designed by Helge Denker and lithographed. Rating:- *****.